TOKYO , Japan -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- When Japanese police arrested three sumo wrestlers and their stable master on Thursday over allegations they beat a 17-year-old wrestler to death , the case sent shockwaves across a country that links its national identity to the sport .

Sumo stablemaster Junichi Yamamoto following the young wrestler 's death in October .

In scenes unprecedented in Japan 's history , where wrestlers are seen as national heroes , the sumo stars were shown handcuffed and with jackets over their heads surrounded by cameras and reporters .

Police arrested sumo wrestlers Masakazu Kimura , 24 , Yuichiro Izuka , 25 , Masanori Fujii , 22 , and their stablemaster , Junichi Yamamoto , 57 , who is also known as Tokitsukaze . Aichi prefectural police allege Yamamoto ordered the three wrestlers to beat a 17 year old junior wrestler so brutally that he died .

Takashi Saito , 17 , collapsed at his sumo stable and was rushed to the hospital .

Initially , the boy 's death was listed as `` ischemic heart failure '' , until his family viewed his body . They say his body was covered in bruises , cuts and burns . They begged police to open an investigation , believing he 'd been punished for trying to flee the stable .

`` He said he 'd be a good boy , I just need to come get him -LRB- from the stable -RRB- , '' his father told reporters last summer , through choked tears . `` I should have listened and trusted him . ''

Police say on June 25 , Yamamoto instructed the wrestlers to beat the boy using sticks and a metal bat .

Yamamoto publicly denied striking Saito inappropriately , though he did admit to striking him on the head with a beer bottle during dinner that day . He told reporters shortly after Saito 's death , `` This was an ordinary practice . How could you think I would do anything to hurt someone I consider my child ? ''

The results of an autopsy conducted last year by Niigata University concluded that Saito died of shock caused by multiple injuries .

In a separate autopsy , specialists at Nagoya University confirmed earlier this month that shock caused by multiple external injuries contributed to Saito 's death .

The arrests have shaken Japan 's national sport to its core .

The Prime Minister , on the floor of the Parliament , urged the nation to carefully examine its sport . The Sumo Association says it will look at how young sumo are hazed , a process that often batters them to toughen them up .

`` There will be some change in the short-term , but in the long-run , nothing will change , '' says sumo analyst and Japan Times sumo columnist Mark Buckton . `` These are bad apples who took it too far . '' E-mail to a friend

@highlight

Police arrest three sumo wrestlers and their stablemaster over wrestler 's death

@highlight

Police allege the trainer ordered the wrestlers to beat the 17-year-old wrestler

@highlight

The case has shocked Japan where sumo is regarded as near-sacred sport